90-Second Read: Hantavirus outbreak abroad prompts reminder about risk in New Mexico

A Hantavirus outbreak linked to the M/V Hondius cruise ship that resulted in three deaths and up to a dozen infections has heightened awareness about a virus that is all too familiar in New Mexico. New Mexico ranks among the top five states for total Hantavirus cases since national surveillance began in 1993 following the Four Corners outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State health officials emphasized this week that the Hantavirus strain found in New Mexico differs from the strain linked to the cruise ship outbreak and does not spread person-to-person. A researcher from the University of New Mexico Bradfute Lab traps rodents during Hantavirus field research in New Mexico.

A map shows cumulative Hantavirus cases by county in New Mexico. Taos County ranks third in the state for total reported cases since 1975. This year, the first confirmed Hantavirus case in New Mexico infected a Santa Fe County resident who is recovering. Deer mice remain the primary carriers of the Sin Nombre strain found in New Mexico.

Researchers monitor rodent populations to track the prevalence of Hantavirus infections. Bradfute told the Taos News there is no reason to expect an increased risk of Hantavirus in New Mexico this year. About 35 percent of people who contract Hantavirus die from the illness. Additional information about prevention, symptoms and safe cleaning practices is available at nmhealth.org and cdc.gov/Hantavirus.

In Northern New Mexico, there is one site at the location of an exposed patient where the rates of Hantavirus in rodents can be as high as 48 percent in recent years. Researchers still do not know which rodents spread Hantavirus most often. Doctors airlifted him to UNM Hospital, one of only three hospitals in New Mexico equipped with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) life-support technology.